Jared Bridegan murder latest: Microsoft exec’s ex-wife Shanna Gardner in court for extradition hearing

Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, 36, has been charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse.

Shanna Gardner was taken into custody at her Washington state home on 17 August – more than a year after Bridegan, 33, was killed in Jacksonville Beach in February 2022.

Bridegan was dropping off his two children at Ms Gardner’s home when he was ambushed and shot dead. One of his other children was in the car at the time.

His ex-wife is now accused of hatching a murder-for-hire plot with her second husband, Mario Fernandez, to kill Bridegan by hiring Henry Tenon to shoot him.

The ex-wife of slain Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan will appear in court today as she continues to fight extradition to face charges over his murder.

Prosecutors are seeking to bring Shanna Gardner back to Florida where she faces the death penalty over charges of first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and child abuse.

Ms Gardner is currently behind bars in Washington state and is slated to appear for her extradition hearing there on Thursday morning.

Her attorneys have been fighting the extradition.

Newly-released bodycam footage shows the dramatic moment police arrested Jared Bridegan’s ex-wife Shanna Gardner-Fernandez for his murder.

Bridegan, a software developer at Microsoft, was ambushed and shot dead in Jacksonville Beach in February 2022.

More than a year later, his ex-wife was charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse.

Bodycam footage shows Gardner-Fernandez in a black t-shirt and pink pajama pants as she’s detained by police at her Washington state home in August 2023. One of the 12-year-old twins is heard asking, “Where are your jeans, mom?” The other responds, “I know where they are.”

She’s heard on the video telling the children she loves them as she’s being led away by police. Andrea Cavallier reports.

Shanna Gardner and the late Jared Bridegan have an “extensive litigation history” that has been playing out in St Johns County, Florida courts since 2015, Action News Jax reports.

The more than 800-page divorce and custody file shows the parties used the court system for the majority of their communications and “clearly have extensive litigation history with each one filing multiple motions and petitions.”

Ms Gardner’s attorney recommended a “parenting coordinator” to help resolve disputes without having to resort to litigation

She had requested that Mr Bridegan “provide minimal and reasonable information regarding his travel with the children out of state” — such as the location and approximate time of leaving and returning.

According to the documents, Mr Bridegan “is refusing”.

Ms Gardner-Fernandez is currently in the custody of the Benton County Corrections Department in Washington.

During a court appearance on Friday, Ms Gardner-Fernandez refused to waive extradition to Florida, where she faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and child endangerment.

She is being held without bond and is expected to reappear in court on 14 September.

Shanna Gardner-Fernandez was arrested in Washington state on Thursday and will be extradited back to Duval County, Florida, where she has been indicted by a grand jury on a charge of first-degree murder and child abuse.

After her divorce from Jared Bridegan and her marriage to Mario Fernandez, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez reportedly moved her family to southeastern Washington state – without her new spouse, according to Fox News Digital.

Kirsten Bridegan, before Ms Gardner-Fernandez’s arrest, had told the outlet she was “shocked” to learn Ms Gardner-Fernandez moved away, claiming her step-children are now “isolated” from her and their half-siblings.

“First, the twins lost their dad, then they were completely cut off from their own sisters, and now they’re being taken away from their school, friends, their sports teams,” she said. “They are so isolated, and that’s what concerns me.”

The twins didn’t attend their father’s funeral service – but in a post to her custom bakery’s Instagram account, Mr Bridegan’s ex-wife Shanna said she had held a private memorial with family and friends to “show support for my littles”.

“It was a very emotional day, but also a day for smiles, laughter and love,” she wrote.

Mr Bridegan’s widow told Fox she has tried to make contact with Ms Gardner-Fernandez, but said she has been met with silence.

“It’s been an added loss,” she said. “On top of losing Jared, my children have lost their siblings. I’ve lost my step-kids. I have tried for months and months to make contact and have gotten nowhere.”

Ms Gardner-Fernandez, however, was arrested in Washington state on Thursday – and will be extradited back to Duval County, Florida, where she has been indicted by a grand jury on a charge of first-degree murder and child abuse.

“We promised at the outset of this investigation we would not relent until we uncovered the truth of Jared’s murder, the whole and entire truth,” State Attorney Melissa Nelson told reporters.

The Independent has reached out to Ms Gardner-Fernandez’s criminal defence attorney, Henry Coxe III, for comment.

Bridegan’s widow, Kristen Bridegan, welcomed the hope that justice would be served.

In January, authorities arrested Henry Teton, 61, a longtime felon, and charged him with conspiracy to commit murder, second-degree murder with a weapon, accessory after the fact to a capital felony and child abuse.

Melissa Nelson, the State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial District, told reporters that were other suspects being investigation and authorities “know that Henry Tenon did not act alone.”

Authorities did not detail the exact role they believe Mr Tenon played in Mr Bridegan’s death but revealed a connection between Mr Tenon and Ms Gardner-Fernandez. They said Mr Tenon was living at a home in Jacksonville that was owned by Mario Fernandez, Ms Gardner-Fernandez’s husband at the time of the murder.

Mr Fernandez reportedly purchased the rental property in 2017 and solid it in October 2022, according to investigators. Mr Tenon appears to have rented directly from Mr Fernandez.

The landlord himself was arrested on16 March on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against him l– alleging he committed the crime for “pecuniary gain” and in a “cold calculated and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification.”

The decision to pursue the death penalty in the case came just days after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law requiring that only eight out 12 jurors need to agree on the death sentence. It replaces a law which needed a unanimous vote for the death penalty.

Prosecutors announced earlier this year that Tenon had pleaded guilty and would testify against co-defendants; he will serve at least 15 years in prison, according to the plea agreement.

Then, this week, Ms Gardner-Fernandez was also arrested in connection with her ex-husband’s death – across the country in Washington State.